The Language of Flowers
by bibliophileemily
Summary: Every December, Neji buys a single flower from the Yamanaka's shop, and every year, Ino gets a little insight on him and his relationship with Hinata. Neji & Ino friendship. Sort of NejiHina. Spoilers for the end of the Fourth Shinobi War. Note the genre tags.
1. Chapter 1

1

If Ino had a mental list of people she expected to show up in her family's flower shop just a few days before New Year's Eve, Hyuuga Neji would be at the bottom of it.

Yet there he was, red-faced and shivering as he brushed the snow out of his hair. Ino was lost for a moment watching it—it was criminal that hair that beautiful was wasted on a boy—but then she remembered her job and her manners and called out a greeting in her most professional voice.

"Welcome! Can I help you?"

Neji started, almost as if he hadn't expected someone to actually be there working in the shop. "Just looking" was his terse reply; Ino was a little miffed that he hadn't even bothered to say 'thank you,' but this _was_ Neji after all, the same person who wasn't even the least bit interested when she turned her charm onto him...not that that bothered her or anything.

She preoccupied herself by going over the orders for the next two months; Asuma-sensei had ordered a suspiciously large number of roses, probably for Kurenai-sensei. There were at least a dozen cancelled orders of flowers for Sasuke; it had been a month since he left the village, and Ino still couldn't believe that he was actually gone. There had been several missions to search for him or for clues that could lead to him—Ino had even gone on a few of them—but so far, no luck.

Ten minutes passed, and Neji was still in the shop and hadn't made a selection. Ino sighed and dragged herself away from the counter.

He was poking at the leaf of an African violet, probably marveling at how fuzzy it was, when Ino rounded the corner and cheerily asked if he needed any help.

"Careful," she said as he jerked his hand away from the plant. "Those are delicate. And if you kill it, you pay for it."

"I didn't hurt it."

"Then there isn't a problem," she said with a smile. "So, are you sure you don't need any help? I promise that I'm qualified to find flowers to suit any occasion."

"Of course you are." Neji looked back at the African violet before sighing in defeat. "Is this all you have in stock?"

Ino looked around the shop. For the middle of winter, the selection was actually quite good. "Yes? Is it not to your satisfaction?"

Neji shook his head. "It's not that. I only need one flower, not ten; you don't have any single flowers for sale?"

"Of course we have single blooms for sale," Ino snapped. "I could have told you that if you'd asked for help as soon as you came in. Come on."

She led him up to the counter where she pulled out the catalog of winter stock and pushed it toward him. "Of course, we don't have too much right now because it _is_ winter, but we do keep some flowers in our greenhouse."

"I see." Neji carefully turned the pages, taking his time looking over each flower. This surprised Ino, who hadn't expected him to have much interest.

"So…who are you buying flowers for?" she asked, unable to hold back her curiosity. "Is it a Christmas present?"

"_A_ flower," Neji corrected. "And that's none of your business."

"Actually, it _is_ my business," Ino retorted. "You're here in my family's shop, aren't you?"

Neji looked up at her blankly, then sighed in acquiescence. "Very well. It's for someone's birthday."

"Excellent, thank you; that gives me something to work with." Ino cracked her knuckles, making Neji wince, and started circling flower names with her pencil. "What you'd probably want is an iris, since it means "good news" and "good fortune" and all that, but you could also do a winter peony or a daffodil…"

"The flowers have meanings?"

"Of course they do; haven't you heard of the language of flowers?" When Neji shook his head, she continued. "Every flower has a hidden meaning, so when you give one as a gift, you're not just brightening the person's heart with the beauty of the flower, you're conveying a special meaning that adds a whole other layer. Get it?"

"Yes…" Neji looked back at the list of flowers. "And you understand this language?"

"Duh." Ino rolled her eyes. "Every girl learns it at some point. Even in the academy, we had to practice flower arranging."

"I see. Forgive my ignorance, but I am not a girl."

"Obviously not."

Neji gave the barest hint of a smile. "So…based on your available stock, which flower means "I respect you"?"

"Well, the best choice would be a daffodil; we might be out right now, but you can always order one."

"I need the flower today."

"All right. Let me check in the back and see what we have. Wait here, please."

Ino took her time in the greenhouse, her favorite part of the shop. It was always warm and bright there, no matter what the weather was outside, and the perfume of the exotic flowers growing there always managed to cheer her up after a bad day.

Neji was in luck; there was one daffodil plant in bloom. Ino carefully trimmed the stem and wrapped it in a wet cloth and paper before coming back.

"Today's your lucky day," she sang as she came through the door. "There was one left; that'll be 1200 ryou, please."

Neji counted out his coins and placed them on the tray. "I'm guessing the elevated price is because it's winter?"

"Yep. Customers who know they have a need for flowers in winter usually order them in advance. That way, we can guarantee out-of-season flowers will be in stock, and you can get them at in-season prices." She handed him his flower and a receipt. "Something to keep in mind in case you need a flower next year; birthdays tend to be an annual thing."

"How far in advance would I need to make such arrangements?"

"Spring or summer are the best times, but really, any time before winter is fine," Ino said.

"I'll keep that in mind; thank you for your help." To Ino's surprise, he bowed before he turned and left the shop without a backwards glance.

Well, _that_ was weird, she thought. She spent the rest of her shift trying to figure out who Neji of all people respected enough to actually buy a birthday present for. Maybe Lee or his other teammate (whose name Ino could never remember) had a winter birthday? Maybe Gai-sensei? It was a mystery that kept her happily occupied until closing time.

The next morning, she bumped into Hinata at the bakery and complimented her on the new bracelet she was wearing.

"Thank you, Ino-san," Hinata said. "I don't think it suits me that well, but it was a birthday present from my sister, and I wanted to be polite."

And just like that, the pieces fell into place.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: I'm trying something different: a story about friendship-not my usual thing! Neji and Ino don't often interact in canon, so it's a little difficult writing them, but here's hoping I'm doing a convincing job. There will be some one-sided romance later, though; note which characters are tagged. I don't know how often I will update, but the story is almost finished, and the final chapter will be out December 27th, no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

2

The next time Ino saw Neji was four months later when he came into the hospital while she was leaving training.

"Neji-san!" she shouted, waving to him from across the room. "Are you going to be in my shop later to order—?"

A man with a broken ankle should not have moved that quickly across the room, but he somehow did and actually clapped his hand over her mouth like a child would.

"That is a private matter," he hissed before letting go and leaning against the wall to rest his bad leg.

"I'm sorry; I wasn't thinking…" Ino craned her neck to get a better view of his injury. "You know, you really shouldn't be standing on that. Do you want me to take a look?"

"What, are you a doctor now?" he said through his teeth.

"For your information, I'm in training to be a medical ninja, thank you very much. Tsunade-sama herself is giving me lessons."

"Really? Then can you do something about…" He gestured towards his ankle.

"Um…" Ino blushed. "All I can do is look; I'm not allowed to actually _practice_ on humans yet."

"Of course you aren't…" Neji leaned his head back. "Then perhaps the most useful thing would be for you to find a qualified doctor."

Ino, offended, was about to retort with a snappy comeback, but then she noticed Neji's face and how tight his clenched fists were, so she wordlessly went off to fetch a doctor for him.

Within the week, he was in her shop again; she wondered if he would have come in if she hadn't helped him back then.

"Welcome!" she said in greeting. "Are you here to order a birthday present again?"

"Yes" was his short answer as he began flipping through the book Ino already had out for him.

"Excellent! I'm sure you'll pick something wonderful for Hinata this year."

Neji looked up from the book and maintained five uncomfortable seconds of eye contact. "How did you know that I'm buying flowers for Hinata-sama?"

"Um…" Ino took a moment to recover; she could never quite get used to how creepy Hyuuga eyes were when she looked into them up close. "Well, we were in the same class in the Academy, so of course I know when her birthday is. It wasn't that hard to figure out, honestly."

"Strange then that last year you didn't know when her birthday was," Neji said drily. Ino wasn't sure, but for a moment, she thought he was smiling.

"What makes you think I didn't?"

"The fact that you had to figure it out at all." He was definitely smiling now, although it was really more like a smirk. Ino nobly resisted the urge to smack him.

"Why are you buying flowers for her anyway?" she grumbled. "I didn't think you two were exactly close."

The smile vanished, and Ino realized she'd gone too far. "I'm sorry. It's not my place to…"

"Don't worry about it," Neji said. "It's the truth, after all." He tapped the list of flowers. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"

"Of course!" Ino brushed her bangs out of her eyes and leaned over the counter to look where he was pointing. "Roses? Are you sure that's what you want to go with?"

"Is it a bad choice?"

"No! It's just…um…well, roses have a particular meaning in the language of flowers."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Is it something bad?"

"Well, the meaning changes a bit depending on the color, but generally, roses mean "love.""

"…Ah; that won't do." He scanned further down on the list. "Tulips?"

"Also mean "love.""

He scowled. "Are there any flowers that _don't_ mean "love"?"

"There are." She reached over the counter and took the catalog to find him some better options. "So…last year, you went with "respect." I mean, with the daffodil…" She hesitated, not sure if this conversation was really one she should even be having. "Does that mean you're trying to…fix things between the two of you?"

Neji took so long to answer that Ino almost wasn't sure he'd heard her. "That's not how I would have phrased it, but in essence, yes."

"Well, you're off to a good start then; flowers can fix pretty much everything." She turned the catalog back toward him, pointing out a violet. "How about this? It means "honesty." Since you're trying to move forward, maybe it'd be…I mean, any sentiment you want to express would be good and—"

"Loyalty."

"I'm sorry?"

"What flowers mean "loyalty"?"

"Loyalty? Um…" She flipped the page over and pointed out a zinnia. "This one."

"Do they come in colors other than pink?"

"Yeah! Red, orange, white…"

"Orange will do."

"All right, I'll get that ordered for you." Ino pulled out an order form and started filling in the necessary information. "Do you want it delivered, or will you pick it up?"

"The latter," Neji answered. "Although it's good to know delivery is an option."

"It's an extra two hundred ryou, four hundred in busy times like around New Year's and Obon." She passed the form to him so he could sign it. "You're all set."

"Thank you. You were most helpful."

He had turned and was about to go when Ino couldn't help herself. "I wasn't just talking when I said flowers fix everything," she said quickly. "Keep this up, and you and Hinata will be friends in no time."

Neji didn't look back, but Ino could have sworn she heard him say, "I hope so" as he left.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Ino had been to the Hyuuga clan grounds only once before, but she was still overwhelmed with how large the main house was and how many hallways she followed an attendant through before finally reaching Hinata's room; the Yamanaka estate was not nearly as grand, but then her clan was neither as old nor as prestigious.

"Hinata-sama," the attendant said through the door. "Yamanaka Ino with a delivery for you." Suddenly, Ino felt foolish for insisting on delivering Hinata's birthday present herself; she could have easily handed it off to the stone-faced man currently opening the door to let her in to Hinata's bedroom.

"Oh, Ino-san!" Hinata said from where she was kneeling on the floor. "Please come in. I was expecting you."

"You were?"

"Yes, I—ouch! Hanabi, n-not so hard, please!" she pleaded as the girl behind her pulled her hair back tightly. "I wanted a special hair style for tonight, and my sister is particularly good with braids," she explained.

Ino blinked; she had completely forgotten Hinata had a younger sister. "Right…happy birthday, by the way."

"Thank you. You have something for me?"

"I do." Ino offered the flower and accompanying card to her. "I guess Neji-san opted for delivery this time around."

"He left for a mission three days ago," Hinata said, opening the card and taking her time reading it. Ino didn't understand why she spent so much time on it; she'd read the card too—it was just too easy to open and reseal the envelope—and Neji had written three stark sentences to wish her happy birthday and congratulate her on passing the Chuunin Exams. The only hint of sentimentality to the gift was his flower choice—a purple pansy, which meant "thinking of you."

"Thank you for bringing this to me, Ino-san; I was hoping Neji-nii-san would be back today, but jounin missions seem to take longer…" Hinata sighed, closing her eyes. "Did you help him pick this one out too?"

"Not this time," Ino laughed. "I've been way too busy to work in the shop most days. You know how it is, since you're a chuunin now too."

Hinata beamed; she had been promoted only six months ago, half a year later than Ino had. Ino knew that she'd trained particularly hard in order to earn the higher rank—Hinata and Chouji had taken the exam together with Rock Lee, and while Chouji had often been exhausted by the training ethics of his older teammate, Hinata had actually managed to keep pace with Lee.

"It is much more work to be a chuunin, although I think you're busier than I am, Ino-san; you have your exam coming soon, don't you?"

"It's in a month, yeah." Ino didn't want to talk about her upcoming medical ninja certification exam. She had finished training under Tsunade and finally caught up to Sakura in terms of knowledge, but Ino was nervous. She didn't have the same chakra control that Sakura had, and even though she knew all the information, if she couldn't exercise precision, it didn't do her much good.

"I'm sure you'll pass."

"Thanks…so um, should I get you a vase or something for that?" Ino asked, noticing the flower starting to drip on Hinata's robe.

"No, thank you. I need it to dry so I can press it tonight."

"Press…you press flowers?"

Hinata nodded. "Hanabi, could you get me my flower book please?"

Hanabi dutifully fetched the book and brought it to Hinata, who opened it to show Ino the various flowers she'd collected over the years.

"My mother and I used to pick flowers when I was small," she explained, "and I was always so sad when they would die a few days later, so she taught me how to keep them beautiful forever." She turned the page to show one marked "Neji-nii-san;" Ino immediately recognized the flowers preserved there. "I press every flower nii-san gives me."

"When did he give you this one?" Ino asked, pointing out a red camellia. "I didn't sell it to him…"

"Oh…that was my third birthday, the day we met." Hinata smiled and touched the paper-thin blossom with a fingertip. "Neji-nii-san didn't have a present for me, so he picked it off a tree and gave it to me. I didn't think to press it until the next day, which is why it's a little brown on the edges…" She blushed, suddenly aware of how much she'd been talking. "I'm sorry, Ino-san…I've kept you too long; I'm sure you have things to do."

"Oh, no, it's fine! You were the only delivery I had today, and the shop's been dead all day. I'm getting a lot of studying done behind the counter."

"I'll let you get back to it though. Thank you for delivering my birthday present."

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, Hinata!"

"Should I send for someone to show you the way out?"

"No, I've got it. See you later!" Ino let herself out of Hinata's bedroom door and immediately got herself lost.

She passed the same wall scroll twice before she finally gave up and prepared to do a mind-body switch with the first Hyuuga to pass by, but to her surprise, Neji was the one who turned the corner and found her.

"Ino! What are you—?

"Oh, hey, you're home; Hinata's going to be so happy! Before you go see her, though, can you show me the way out of here?"

"Yes…follow me." He led her down a hall she hadn't even noticed. "I imagine you being here means you were making a flower delivery."

"Yeah, just finished! Hinata really liked it, although I think she'll be even happier to see you in person."

"Really? She liked it?" Neji smiled just long enough for Ino to notice. "I'll leave you here then. Just walk straight, and you'll be out the front door."

"You're not going to see me safely out? Rude!"

"I'd rather not miss Hinata-sama's birthday dinner because I had to help you walk three meters. You're smart enough to find your way out from here."

Ino was about to make a snappy comeback; perhaps she was mollified by being called "smart" or perhaps it was because she noticed that Neji actually had a good deal of blood in his hair that was going to take forever to wash out, but either way, she shrugged and waved goodbye instead.

"Have fun!" she called over her shoulder. "Make sure you say something nice to her; your card was a little sparse on the sentiment."

She didn't wait for a reaction—Neji could get mad at her for reading it later—and jauntily set off for the flower shop. It looked like her prediction that Neji and Hinata would become friends again was right.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** That filler with Hanabi was like gold for this fic. Semi-canon Neji & Ino interaction? Yes, please! I didn't copy the translated subtitles verbatim for this opening (because that's plagiarism and also because the scene in question is really, really awkward in English, so I messed with it a little), so if you saw the episode and were wondering why the words were different, that's why.

* * *

><p>4<p>

"I'm telling you the truth! Naruto was amazing! He flattened that Akatsuki guy Kakuzu, you know, with all the hearts, with his brand-new super go-get-'em jutsu!" Ino gestured in a futile attempt to demonstrate the magnificence of Naruto's new jutsu; she was still amazed by how much he'd grown in the two-and-a-half years he'd been away training.

"'Go-get-'em'? Is that really the best way to describe it?" Neji asked skeptically, eyebrow raised. Ever since that mission where Ino had flippantly asked him to unblock whatever chakra point was holding back his sense of humor after he'd failed to see the funny side of her jokes, he'd been hyper-critical of her language choices. It was annoying, but she had a story to tell, so she elected to ignore it for now.

"Well, it was huge and zoomed past us like…" She again gestured, pushing one hand past the other to convey just how fast this jutsu really was. "He called it the Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken!"

"He actually managed to manipulate wind chakra in both nature and form?"

"Yeah, maybe that's it!" She actually had no idea what Neji was talking about, but it sounded like whatever Kakashi-sensei had said back there. Either way, the two Hyuuga were suitably impressed, which was the reaction Ino was looking for.

"Wow…Naruto-kun keeps getting better and better," Hinata said. "I have to do my best to catch up to him."

"Does that give you an idea for a new jutsu?" Neji asked.

"Maybe…" Hinata stood up. "I'm going to make tea. Would you like some, Ino-san?"

"No, thank you; I've got to meet up with Shikamaru and Chouji in a bit. I just wanted to tell you about Naruto's new jutsu and how awesome he was!"

"All right; take care then."

"Will do!" She waited until Hinata was gone before turning to Neji. "You're at fourteen smiles for the year, Neji-san."

"What?"

"Just now, when you smiled at Hinata, you brought your total number of smiles for the year to fourteen. Did you forget I was keeping track?"

"I tend not to remember unimportant things."

"You know, if you loosened up and were a little less serious sometimes, I think it would actually kill you."

"Perhaps." Neji sighed. "Should I walk you to the gate, or are you able to find your way on your own this time?" Ino didn't come by very often, and she still had difficulty finding her way out. She was tempted to say 'no' just to spite him, but she really did need the guidance.

"Fine, you can come along, but only because I enjoy your company so much."

"I'm sure. Will I be seeing you next week then?"

"Huh?"

"In your family's shop."

"Oh, right, Hinata's birthday…probably not, actually. I think I have to work a shift at the hospital."

"I see…that may be for the best."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing. Farewell, Ino." And he turned and left her to realize she was already at the gates to the clan's estate.

* * *

><p>Ino purposely switched her schedule so that she was free to work in the flower shop on Hinata's birthday; she was slightly ticked off that Neji didn't want her there when he came in. The nerve of that guy…she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she was the one to greet him.<p>

Neji didn't disappoint; his expression noticeably darkened when he realized Ino was behind the counter.

"I thought you were working in the hospital."

"Change of plans; aren't you glad to see me?"

"Overjoyed," he said through clenched teeth. "And I suppose you're the only one working today too."

"Yep! So what did you order this time? I'll go get it from the back."

"Actually, I want to get something different."

Ino stopped in her tracks. "Are you serious? You're changing your order _now_? It's the middle of winter, and a bad year for flowers to boot, and you want to change it _now_?!"

Neji picked a winter peony out of a slightly wilted bouquet on the counter. "Yes."

"Oh…OK then." Ino figured it was better not to question his whims. "Let me just go and get your order from the back.

"That isn't necessary."

"Yes, it is; the receipt's attached to it. I have to log everything and get you a refund and…hold on a second, I'll be right back," she called over her shoulder as she headed to the back. She couldn't even begin to wonder what made Neji change his mind on such short notice, especially when she always stressed how important it was to come in summer…Ino tapped her fingers on her chin; where was it? There were a few bouquets ready, but the only single bloom was…no, that couldn't be it…was it?

"Neji-san," she said when she came back, "did…did you order this by mistake?" She set a yellow tulip on the counter. "I didn't take this order for you, but…whoever did told you that tulips mean "love," right?"

For a split second, something akin to terror passed through Neji's expression, but Ino barely had time to notice it before he resumed his usual blank stare.

"You're right. It was a mistake," he said at last. "I got the colors and meanings mixed up."

His eyes darted to the left, and Ino suddenly realized he was lying. Why would he lie about something like that? Why would he purposely want to give Hinata…_Hinata_…

"No…you didn't make a mistake." Ino had counted all of Neji's smiles over the year; thinking back, almost all of them were connected to Hinata. "You love her."

Neji bowed his head, which was confirmation enough.

Ino braced herself against the counter, the new information almost physically pressing her down. "But you aren't going to tell her…why? I mean, why not? You were going to…"

"Naruto came back. And when Hinata-sama told me she fainted when she first saw him again…" He stopped, started again. "I told her to keep trying, to not give up on him."

"You _what_?" Ino couldn't comprehend this; if she loved someone, she would do whatever she could to get his attention, no matter who was in the way. "But—"

"I should have come in and cancelled the order then," Neji continued, ignoring her, "but it's been one mission after another…I haven't had the time." He pointed to the peony on the counter. "I'll take this instead; I don't care what it means. How much is it?"

"I'm not selling you that." Ino pushed the tulip towards him. "I really think you should give this to Hinata. You shouldn't leave something so important unsaid."

Neji shook his head. "And get in the way of her happiness? I'm not that selfish."

"Selfish? What's selfish about telling the truth? I think you're afraid." She pointed to the peony. "Peonies mean "bravery;" clearly you don't have the courage to—"

"You don't understand…"

"Don't I?" Ino was almost in tears. "You're exactly the same as Asuma-sensei! He always bought flowers for Kurenai-sensei, but he never admitted how he really felt…" She stopped; this wasn't the time or place to get upset about Asuma, but she couldn't help this feeling of dread that the exact same thing was going to happen again. "I'm sorry; this isn't my place…"

"You're right; it's not."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Ino sighed and wrapped both flowers up for Neji.

"Take them both. I'll let you have the peony for free," she said, reaching across the counter to give them to him. "And I'll keep your secret. But Neji-san…sometimes it's more selfish to leave things unsaid than to keep them inside."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After he left, Ino watched him from the window as Neji paused, holding the tulip for a long moment, before he dropped it and crushed it under his foot.


	5. Chapter 5

5

It was raining. It'd been raining almost all month. Ino felt like the sky was crying. The sky had been crying too long, crying the tears she wasn't able to shed.

All things considered, the number of casualties for a war of its scale was rather low, but those statistics didn't matter when Ino still came home every night to find her father's place at the dinner table empty.

She could hardly stand to go near the flower shop at first; she had too many memories of her dad behind the counter. But burying the dead meant funerals and new graves to attend, and fresh graves demanded fresh flowers. Ino's mother couldn't keep up the work alone—she and Inoichi had always collaborated on everything—so Ino faced her grief head-on and dove into work.

It got easier over time. There was so much to do that Ino barely had time to chat with customers—she took, sold, and filled so many orders of lilies and roses and forget-me-nots that she almost missed a receipt calling for a single bloom in the last week of December.

Ino knew it was from Neji before she even saw the name; he'd written a letter in advance and although she didn't recognize the handwriting, she didn't know anyone else who would address a card to "Hinata-sama."

The envelope was unsealed. Ino valiantly tried to resist reading it, but she only lasted a single workday before she had to pull out the letter and read it.

To her surprise, there was a note tucked on top of the actual letter that was addressed to her. She quickly unfolded it and began to read.

_Ino,_

_ If you read this letter, you're dead…or perhaps I am. If it's the latter, I suppose it can't hurt for you to read everything. It's quite personal, but you've always been one for blatantly disregarding the boundaries I've set against you._

_ In truth, this letter would not have been written if not for you, so perhaps you do have the right to read it after all. Consider it thanks for all you've done for me the past five years._

—_Neji _

_P.S. Please remove this note before giving this to Hinata-sama!_

Ino was already teary-eyed reading that, but then she opened the letter proper.

When she finished, she sank to her knees and sobbed. She cried so hard that she almost got the envelope wet and had to hold it stretched out in front of her while she struggled to compose herself. She didn't stop until it was closing time and her mother came in to help her lock up.

"Ino, are you all right?" she asked. "What is it? Do you need some time away?"

"It's OK, Mom," Ino said. "It's just…tomorrow, I have to do something really, really hard."

It was still raining the next morning. Ino tucked her delivery under her waterproof jacket and jogged over to the Hyuuga estate. The man at the gate recognized her and wordlessly led her to Hinata's room.

Hinata was sitting at her desk, her book of pressed flowers open in front of her. Ino could tell by the flowers she could see that it was the page dedicated to Neji; she took a deep breath—this was going to be even more difficult than she'd anticipated.

"Hinata?"

"Ino-san…" Hinata looked as though she was looking at a ghost. "I-I didn't expect to see you today."

"Yeah…um…there's no easy way to do this." Ino reached in her coat and pulled out a single forget-me-not and the accompanying letter. "Neji-san always ordered his flowers in advance…I guess he must have ordered this before…" She thrust them towards her and fought the urge to turn away; it was already difficult delivering a posthumous birthday message, but watching Hinata read it while knowing what it said was almost impossible.

Hinata opened the letter with shaking hands; she made no attempt to hold back her tears as she read. Ino wasn't surprised; Hinata was never really one to hide her feelings.

By the time she finished, she was still rather composed as she delicately folded the letter back up and placed it on her desk. Hinata was holding the flower in the palm of her hand, staring at it as if she didn't understand.

"Ino-san…" she said at last. "I'm embarrassed to admit that I cannot remember what meaning the forget-me-not has. I mean, besides the obvious, but that couldn't be what Neji-nii-san intended…" She swallowed hard and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "What does it mean?"

Ino inhaled shakily; she'd hoped she wouldn't have to explain. "It means true love. Eternal love, actually." She bit her lip, trying to stop herself from crying; she couldn't lose control here, or she'd never stop.

Hinata blinked twice before she picked up the letter again and began rereading. This time, she understood and the tears came more quickly.

Ino had to turn away; with every sob from Hinata, she remembered what Neji had written, and it was all she could do to keep from falling apart.

_To my dearest Hinata,_

_I hope that you should never read this letter, as it will only be delivered if I am unable to be there in person on your birthday, but I'd rather give you a birthday greeting _in absentia_ than no greeting at all. _

_As I write to you, the entire world is on the brink of war, the likes of which our generation has never seen. It is possible that neither of us will survive, and thus, I am compelled to somehow capture my feelings on paper, a daunting task considering that I am even now unable to convey them through spoken word…I suppose it's best to be direct._

_When I saw your lifeless body on the ground in the aftermath of Pain's attack, it felt like my heart stopped. To think I was away from the village and unable to protect you…if you had died then, I could have never forgiven myself. I haven't told you, but I vowed then and there that I would never let that happen again, even if it meant…well, needless to say, if you die in this war, it will not be on my watch._

_This is not out of any loyalty to the rules of our clan. I want to make it clear that my desire to protect you is not because you are of the Main House, but because…I don't know how to say it. Perhaps this is why historically, people have used flowers to express their feelings; this year, I shall let my flower selection speak for me. I trust you'll know what it means. _

_Happy seventeenth birthday, Hinata-sama. I hope that you have many, many more to come._

_Yours entirely and always,_

_Neji_

* * *

><p>Six months went by.<p>

A lot had changed—Kakashi was Hokage now, Sasuke was occasionally visiting the village, and strangest of all, Sai was actually having regular conversations with Ino. He'd gotten really interested in painting still-life art, and she was usually working whenever he came in to buy flowers. Most of his conversation subjects were bizarre, but he was cute and sometimes it was nice to talk to someone who wasn't Chouji or Shikamaru or Sakura.

She actually thought it was him coming in when the door to the shop swung open that morning, so her greeting of "Welcome! Can I help you?" was a little more peppy than usual.

"H-hello, Ino-san," Hinata replied, a little taken aback. "I…um…I was hoping you could help me pick out a flower."

"Of course!" Ino said. "I'd be happy to help. So who's it for? Naruto?"

Hinata blushed at the mention of Naruto. "Um, no…actually, it's for Neji-nii-san. Tomorrow's his birthday, and I wanted to…to bring some flowers to his grave."

Ino froze. "I forgot his birthday was in July."

"July third." Hinata gave a half smile. "He wasn't one to draw attention to it."

"Right…" Even so, Ino realized that she'd never even once given Neji a birthday present. He'd given her one—OK, so it was a soldier pill while they were on a grueling escort mission in late September, but he'd still said "happy birthday" as he gave it to her. "Sorry, what kind of flower did you have in mind?"

"Aster," Hinata said, knowing that Ino would know its meaning: _I won't forget you._

"Good choice."

Later that day, Ino approached the graveyard with a flower of her own. Neji's grave was easy to find; it was completely covered with flowers placed there by his friends. She assumed that Lee had brought the lotus flowers, perhaps the sweet peas were from Tenten, and of course, there was Hinata's bouquet of aster neat and upright in a vase beside the headstone.

She wondered what Neji would think about all those flowers; he'd probably ask her about their meanings and then make some sort of sarcastic remark about how she was much too interested in what exact statement Lee was trying to make with his flower choice when the reality was just that Lee really liked lotuses…

She shook her head; it didn't do any good to imagine what Neji would say or do or think when he would never do anything again. She blinked away tears and cleared her throat.

"Hi, Neji-san; I just wanted to bring you this." She laid a sprig of jasmine at the bottom of his headstone. "I know you would ask, so I'll just tell you: jasmine means "friendship." I'm really honored that you let me into your life even just a little bit. You were the last person I ever expected to be my friend, but…in your own way, you were, and...

The wind picked up and caught a bluebell from another grave, which landed at her feet. Ino wasn't normally superstitious, but she knew without a doubt it was Neji expressing gratitude one final time.

"Well, anyway…happy birthday, Neji-san."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> For those unaware, today (December 27th) actually is Hinata's birthday, which is why today was my deadline.  
>It <em>killed<em> me to write this, but I believe that devastating head canons are meant to be shared (preferably in fan fiction format), and thus, I had to inflict this upon you all. Thank you so much for reading and sharing my misery; despite the morose subject matter, I hope you were able to enjoy (or at least scream "why would you do this? why?" at your computer screen). See you all in 2015!


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